BAM, Vinci set to build major new undersea tunnel from Denmark to Germany

A consortium that includes French group Vinci and the Netherlands’ BAM has been chosen as preferred bidder in the project to build the Fehmarnbelt Tunnel linking Denmark and northern Germany.

The 18-km-long tunnel, which has been costed at €8.7bn, will carry a four-lane motorway and a double-track electrified railway and promoters hope it will open in 2024. It will be partly funded by the European Union.

The scheme’s developer, Femern A/S, believes the tunnel will speed up the flow of people and goods between Germany and the whole of Scandinavia. Car and freight traffic between Schleswig-Holstein and Sweden will be saved a 160 km detour through Jutland.

Said to be the world’s longest immersed tunnel for vehicles and trains, the Fehmarnbelt Tunnel tube will be built with 89 prefabricated concrete sections manufactured in Denmark.

On 4 March (Friday) the consortium Femern Link Contractors was named preferred bidder for both the main tunnel and for a separate major contract covering the portals and ramps. Another consortium, Fehmern Belt Contractors, which includes Boskalis and Hochtief, won the dredging and reclamation contract.

Danish political parties on Friday mandated Femern A/S to negotiate the main tunnel contracts, with the aim of entering conditional contracts no later than mid-May 2016.

The tunnel’s tube will be built with 89 prefabricated concrete sections manufactured in Denmark (Fermen A/S)

Construction cannot begin until the German construction permit has been issued, however.